The Deal
by TheBeautifulStruggle
Summary: There's a lot more to the process of creating a ghost portal than Danny or his parents ever realized. A portal is less like a door than it is a hole. Death has to take place in order to rip that hole open. Most times, the spirit moves on and the hole closes. Sometimes, the person becomes a ghost. And others, the person merges with a ghost. I don't own Danny Phantom. T to be safe.


_Hey guys. My first Fanfiction. It's a Danny Phantom one, as you can tell. I hope you guys enjoy it!_

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _I don't own Danny Phantom_

 _The Deal_

The portal was open. Outside, Sam and Tucker stood, eyes wide and watching the swirling portal before them. But on the inside, Danny Fenton was making his way forward. He couldn't tell you why, but for some reason he felt a tug in him, prompting him to keep walking. There were two doors. One was silver and intricately detailed. It was beautiful. The other one was just plain wood, with some green slimy stuff streaking it. Which one should he take? His mind and pretty much everything else pulled him toward the silver one, so that is where he walked. His hand reached out and clasped around the doorknob.

He would've opened it, too. If not for the sight he saw. A third door, one that had somehow suddenly appeared. It had chains wrapped around it. Obviously, it wasn't meant to be opened. Well, he always did end up in strange situations. Releasing the knob and refusing himself the pleasure of using the first door, he walked towards the third one. The moment he brushed the chains, they fell to the ground.

The door slid open easily and he stepped through. Immediately he was greeted with what appeared to be a prison cell. There was only one person to be seen. They were chained to the wall. The only light he could see came from the figure's eyes, which were glowing green. Those eyes were studying him thoroughly.

"Been a while since anyone's ever visited me. Besides Walker, that is, but he's terribly dull." The spirit's voice was somewhat scratchy, but was otherwise clear.

"Who are you?"

The room seemed to brighten and Danny got a full view of the supposed-prisoner. White hair, pale skin, green eyes. His clothing was just a mesh-up of black and white. "They call me Phantom, since I never gave another name."

"Do you have another name, then?"

Phantom paused. "Not really, no. If I ever did, then it's been lost to time. So go ahead and call me Phantom."

Danny nodded. "What is this place?"

"It's… well, it's my own personal jail. The other spirits aren't quite fond of me, so they stuffed me in here. Don't get me wrong, Clockwork and Frostbite tried to stop them, but they were easily overpowered. So now I'm here."

Danny hesitated. "For how long?"

Phantom grinned. "All of eternity. I'm never getting out of here."

"Why… why did they lock you up here?"

A tired sigh came from the ghost. "All ghosts have obsessions. Mine gets in the way of the others'. So to stop me from interfering, they shoved me in here."

"What's your obsession?" Every doubt that the teenager had ever had about the existence of ghosts was now completely shattered.

"To protect. Anything, really. A town, a person, a thing. If it's a person, then I'm obsessed with protecting them until they die. Towns and objects are a bit more tricky. It could also be a group of people. The other ghosts are usually obsessed with killing or destroying, so you can see where the conflict is."

"So you're stuck here just because you aren't like them?" He received a nod. "Well, that seems harsh."

"That's ghosts for you." For some reason Danny couldn't stand to see how… accepting the spirit was of his fate.

He thought for a long moment. "Is there anything I can do? To help, that is."

"Nah, go ahead and be on your way, kid. Hate to break it to you, but you're dead. Go on through the silver door and you'll reach peace." Phantom frowned for a minute. "Or, at least, I think you will. Never went through it myself, so I don't know for sure."

"I can't, though." And it was true. The thought of going through that door, to peace, was unbearable. Because he wouldn't just be leaving his friends and family behind. He'd be leaving Phantom behind. "There's no way I could go through that door now. Not after this."

"You have to. Whatever you do, don't go through the other one, the wooden one with green goo. You'll become a ghost. Trust me, that isn't the way you want to go." His eyes were pleading with Danny. He definitely didn't want the teenager to become a ghost. It simply wouldn't be fair.

Danny ran a hand through his messy black hair. "Isn't there any other way? One where we both win?"

Phantom chuckled. "Now you're talking crazy. Like, _Plasmius Exception crazy_."

"Plasmius Exception? What's that?"

"Oh, I really shouldn't have said anything." The spirit groaned.

Silence. "Tell me. Please, I want to help you."

"Well… fine. The Plasmius Exception is where a human and ghost merge together. It's highly volatile and almost definitely fatal. Little to no chance of success. There's only one record of it ever going right, and even that's a rumor. Several have tried and several have failed. Most cases cause humans to die. Some make them go insane, with the ghost inside their head, telling them to do things. Those cases are sometimes mistakenly labeled as schizophrenia or a multiple personality issue. The point is the only case of success is a rumor. That's how dangerous and risky it is." Phantom gave him a pointed look.

"Why don't we try it?" The spirit groaned and began to protest. "Wait, no, just hear me out. I'm dying anyway, right? So it would help both of us, if it worked. I would get to live and you would get to be free to protect whatever you want." Danny could see the longing in the ghost's eyes.

He was about to cave, the teenager could tell. Then Phantom seemed to think of something. "Look, like I said, the only tale of success is a rumor. All I know is that the guy became _half-ghost._ The ghost half is supposedly called Plasmius, but no one knows for sure. The last thing I know is that it was an _accident_. The guy wasn't even _trying_ to be merged; some evil ghost just jumped him and forced it. So do you see why it's a bad idea?"

Danny frowned. "And like _I_ said, I'm dying anyway. So _why not_?"

"Because you could lose your only shot at peace! If we merge – whether it succeeds or not – there's no way that silver door will still let you in. You'll become a ghost! For all of eternity. Is that what you want? Even now, your communication with me is shutting that door. If you want to die in peace, then turn around and leave. And make sure you take the silver door."

"Well, I think that it's my choice, don't you?" Phantom stared at him, confused. "I'm pretty sure that this is what I want to do. I don't care about the risks. I mean, it's a chance to live and protect. The best of both worlds right." Doubt lingered on the spirit's face. "Tell me honestly. Do you want to get out of this prison? This is your chance."

There were a few moments where they just stood in silence. "Fine. It's your funeral, anyway."

The ghost stepped forward and took hold of Danny's arm, pushing his very essence into the teenager. Unknown to the two, a blast of electricity surged through the duo, sealing the two personalities together. Phantom became Danny and Danny became Phantom, until there was no difference between the two. Human met ghost and ghost met human.

Danny Phantom woke up inside the now active portal. Memories of the event were already beginning to seep away. Looking back, he watched as the silver door faded away. Soon the door that Phantom had been imprisoned behind had followed. Slowly the remaining door expanded until it was the only thing the portal led to.

The new halfa stumbled out of the portal, staring wide-eyed at the swirling portal that led only to the Ghost Zone. Memories swirled around within his head as they slowly began fading. Once the last memory vanished, the teen passed out.

Later on when he had awakened and discovered his new ghostly persona, he couldn't help the vague feeling that the white hair and green eyes seemed familiar. As he slowly became the town hero while still remaining a social outcast, he never was able to quite extinguish the lingering feeling of familiarity every time he saw his ghostly appearance.

He never did remember what took place during the creation of the ghost portal. Maybe that was a good thing.


End file.
